Chelsea boss Maresca expects tough test against visitors Ipswich

Chelsea have won their last five Premier League games at Stamford Bridge but manager Enzo Maresca urged caution ahead of Sunday’s clash at home to struggling Ipswich Town.

One of promoted Ipswich’s four league wins this season came against Chelsea in December after the West London side fell to a shock 2-0 loss at Portman Road.

While Chelsea are chasing Champions League qualification for next season, Ipswich are fighting for Premier League survival. Chelsea are fourth on 53 points, while Ipswich sit 18th and are 12 points off the safety zone with seven rounds of matches left.

“It will be a tough game, no doubt,” Maresca told reporters.

“In this moment, any team you face is complicated. No matter if it’s Southampton, Ipswich or Leicester City, because they want to show themselves and finish in the right way. They don’t like to lose games, so it will be tough.

“We have seven games, all of them very difficult. The first one is Ipswich and hopefully we can get the three points.”

Ipswich forward Liam Delap has been linked with a move to Chelsea, with the 22-year-old Englishman having scored 12 league goals in this campaign.

While Maresca praised Delap, who he worked with at Manchester City, the Italian said he was happy with Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson, who has netted nine times in 26 appearances in all competitions for the club.

“It’s not just in terms of his (Delap’s) numbers. The way he plays and fights and is always ‘there’. But he’s an Ipswich player. He’s an enemy on Sunday because we need to beat them, and then after the game I wish him all the best for the future,” Maresca added.

Delap opened the scoring against Chelsea the last time the two sides met.

“If you watch Ipswich, he is doing that against any team, not just against us,” Maresca said. “But in the first game, he was quite good for them. We need to deal with that, and we need to do much, much better compared to the first game (against Ipswich).

“To compare Liam with Harry Kane and Erling Haaland, I think it’s a bit early. But for sure, in terms of style he’s that kind of player. They are all real nines. They are nines inside the box. But we also have a good nine (in Jackson).”